Children&#39;s educational coin-saving device



Dec. 9, 1958 F. A. DbUPNIK 2,863,603

CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL COIN-SAVING DEVICE Filed May 12, 1955 INVENTOR. 1:94AM A fiaupM/r BY 2,863,603 CHILDRENS EDUCATIONAL COIN-SAVING EVICE Frank A. Doupnik, Piedmont, Calif. Application May 12, 1955, Serial No. 507,759 3 Claims. (Cl. 232-) This invention relates to devices for training children in habits of thrift, industry, personal hygiene and the like. Among its objects are to provide a device which will consistently keep before each child'a reminder of the personal habit, duty or task with respect to which training is particularly necessary or desirable, which presents to each child a definte reward for accomplishment and penalty for omission or misbehaviour, which is capable of change at any time to accommodate a change of duties, habits, or training-needs with advancing years, and which offers the opportunity for healthy competition and emulation between children of the same or different ages.

The nature of the invention will become apparent from the description of a preferred form which follows, taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a representation of the face of the complete device or board;

Fig. 2 is an edgewise elevation of the device, a small portion being cut away to show a structural detail; and

Fig. 3 is an exploded isometric view of the device.

ited States Patent These layers are three in number; as shown in Fig. 3

they comprise a backboard or bottom layer 1, a spacinglayer 3, and a cover layer 6. All three layers have the same external dimensions, the device preferably being square or rectangular, although it is apparent that other shapes are quite possible for the purposes of ornament or to engage a childs interest.

The back or bottom layer 1 forms the major support for the device and is preferably made of relatively rigid material to give the device its necessary strength. It may, for example, be made of plywood, sheet plastic, or even of a heavy grade of cardboard. Fabricated boards, such as those made out of compressed woods and sold, for example, under the trade name Masonite are entirely suitable.

superposed on the backboard 1 and rigidly secured to it, preferably by cementing, is a spacer-layer 3. This layer is coextensive in over-all area with the backboard, but has certain portions punched out or otherwise cut away as is indicated in Fig. 3. These cut-away portions constitute a plurality of parallel slots 5 which extend horizontally across a major portion of the spacing layer. Each slot is of the width to receive conveniently the diameter of a coin of some definite denomination, such as a one-or a five-cent piece, a dime, or even a quarter-dollar, although the width proper to receive a five-cent piece is usually the most suitable. Each of the slots terminates at one end in a slot 7, extending transversely of the parallel slots in aposition adjacent to the edge of the spacing layer. The transverse slot extends from the lower edge of the board up to its junction with the slot 5 most distant from the boards edge. The ends of each of the slots 5, opposite to that which connects with the transverse slot, preferably terminate in semi-circular arcs 9. Preferably, the semi-circular ends of the parallel slots are located at a greater distance from the edge of the board than the 2. transverse slots 7. Preferably, also, a greater space is also provided above the slot 5 most distant from the lower edge of the board. The spacing layer can be of cardboard or plastic, and is preferably slightly greater in thickness than the coins which fit the widths of the slots.

The cover layer 6 overlies and is secured to the spacing layer, preferably by cementing. It may be of either transparent or opaque plastic, or of cardboard for an economy type model of this device; if cardboard is used for the cover layer it is preferably of a thin and rather stiff quality, such as pressboard, oil board, or bristol board. Plastic, however, is the preferred material for the purpose.

The cover layer is also provided with a plurality of parallel slots 11, equal in number to the slots 5 in the spacing-layer and positioned so that they are generally in register with the spacing-layer slots. Each slot terminates at its right-hand end (in the particular form shown in the drawings) in an aperture 13 of a diameter adapted to receive the size of coins selected, this aperture registering width and coinciding, in part, with the semi-circular ends 9 of the underlying slots 5. The opposite ends of the slots 11 terminate short of the slots 7. Preferably there is positioned adjacent to the end of each of the slots 11 a small hole 15 which extends through the cover layer into the backboard and is adapted to receive a small peg 16, similar to a cribbage peg, to block passage of coins from the slot 5 into the slot 7.

There are preferably also provided, adjacent to or opposite the ends of each slot, between the coin aperture and the edge of the board nearest to it, an area 17 which can easily be written on and easily erased. If the cover layer is of plastic such areas may merely be a grained or ground surface, provided with a tooth which will take the writing of a pencil or a crayon. A similar area 1?, in addition to those near the ends of the slots, can also be provided in any convenient portion of the board, for example, over the areas 17 as shown. Like the areas 17, the area 19 should accept writing readily and should also be capable of easy erasure.

For the purpose of this invention the materials used for the writing areas is of little importance, as long as they have the quality of accepting writing and of easy erasure. They can, for example, be of material similar to that commonly used on blackboards, which will accept chalk or crayon, or they may be of the type, which is now well known, in which a leaf of thin, translucent plastic overlies a dark-colored waxed surface, on which writing appears where the plastic leaf is pressed against and adheres to wax by means of a pencil or stylus and disappears when the wax and plastic surface are separated.

In the preferred form the board carries certain legends or markings, which may be printed on the spacing layer if the transparent plastic is used for the cover-layer, or may be printed or otherwise imposed upon the cover-layer itself. These markings preferably comprise sets of vertical lines 21, extending transversely across the height of the board, except where interrupted by the slots 11. These lines are separated by a distance equal to the diameter of the coins used, the line nearest the holes 15 being spaced one-half of a coin diameter from the edge of the hole. In the most useful form of the device there are seven of the vertical lines, the length of each slot 11 being equal to 7 coin diameters, and each line is labeled with one of the days of the week in inverse order reading from the aperture 13 to the peg 15.

In its preferred method of use the board is hung on a wall at a height where it can easily be reached by the child or children who are to use it. One method of employing it is to have each child have a board of his own, with his name inscribed in the area 19. Each of the areas 17 then has written upon it the title of a particular task or duty for which he is to be trained, and these can, of course, be varied from time to time as the childs needs and duties change. At the end of the day the proper coin can be inserted in the slot corresponding to each task or duty performed, and slid along with the finger tip as far a the peg and preceding coins permit. As the week progressesand the rows of coins grow, a vacancy in any row becomes a clearly apparent reproach, particularly when there is competition among a group of children. At the end of the week the pegs at the end of each row are removed and the coins are slid along the horizontal slots into the vertical slot 7, from which they come tumbling and jingling in a manner highly gratifying to a child.

Alternatively, instead of having a separate board for each child, the label space at the end of each slot can be supplied with both the name of a child and a particular task, the slots being divided among a group of children, with as many allotted to a child as seems advisable under a given set of circumstances. If it appears advisable to call upon the spirit of competition, and the children of a group are each assigned a like task, the area 19 can carry the task designation while the individual slots are labeled with the names of the children. There are therefore numerous ways in which the board can be used.

The conditions of modern life practically require that each child who has reached a certain minimum age requires some spending money. While most educators deplore the idea of bribing a child to behave properly as psychologically bad, there is also a general opinion that it is advantageous to require each child to do a certain amount of Work in connection with the household and to instill the idea that money must be earned. The presentinvention makes the connection between the task and its wage graphically apparent and it is flexible enough so that the no work, no pay principle can be applied so as to bring the lesson home under almost any conditions of age or family circumstances.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is as follows:

1. A childrens educational coin-saving device comprising a rigid back-board, a spacing-layer of substantially the thickness of the coins to be used fixed to said backboard in overlying face-to-face relation thereto, said spacing-layer being provided with a plurality of parallel slots of a width adapted to receive the diameter of said coins and terminating at one end in a semi-circular arc-and at the other end in a slot of like width extending transversely of said parallel slots and extending from one edge of said back-board to the parallel slotmost distant therefrom and a cover-layer overlying said spacing-layer and secured in face-to-face relation thereto and provided with parallel slots narrower than said spacing-layer slots and in register therewith and terminating at one end in an aperture of a diameter to receive said coins and at the other end short of the junctions of said parallel spacinglayer slots with said transversely extending slot.

2. A childrens educational coin-saving device comprising a rigid backboard, a spacing-layer of substantially the thickness of the coins to be used affixed to said backboard in overlying face-to-face relation thereto, said spacing-layer being provided with a plurality of parallel slots intermediate its sides and of a width adapted to receive the diameter of said coins and terminating at one end in a semicircular are, said spacing-layer having a slot therein of a width equal to said parallel slots defining a discharge passage for said coins moving therethrough, said discharge passage slot being normal to said parallel slots and in communication with the other ends of the parallel slots and opening through the bottom of said spacing-layer, and a cover-layer overlying said spacinglayer secured in face-to-face relation thereto and provided with parallel slots intermediate its ends and narrower than said spacing-layer slots and in register therewith, said cover-layer parallel slots terminating at one end in an aperture of a diameter to receive said coins and the other end short of the junction of said parallel spacing-layer slots with said coin discharge passage.

3. A childrens educational coin-saving device comprising a rigid back-board, a spacing-layer of substantially the thickness of the coins to be used fixed to said backboard in overlying face-to-face relation thereto, said spacing-layer being provided with a plurality of parallel slots of a width adapted to receive the diameter of said coins and terminating at one end in a semi-circular arc and at the other end in a slot of like width extending transversely of said parallel slots and extending from one edge of said back-board to the parallel slot most distant therefrom and a cover-layer overlying said spacing-layer and secured in face-to-face relation thereto and provided with parallel slots narrower than said spacing-layer slots and in register therewith and terminating at one end in an aperture of a diameter to receive said coins and at the other end short of the junctions of said parallel spacinglayer slots with said transversely extending slot, said back-board and cover-layer each being apertured adjacent to the end of the slots in said cover-layer and generally in line with each slot therein to receive pegs for blocking the passage of coins from said parallel slots to said transversely extending slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 682,852 Kidder Sept. 17, 1901 754,003 Nefzger Mar. 8, 1904 1,145,211 Pine July 6, 1915 1,412,526 lacobsen Apr. 11, 1922 1,470,357 Greenbaum Oct. 9, 1923 1,711,980 Andres etal. May 7, 1929 1,770,146 Silver et a1. July 8, 1930 

